Ocean Beach surf a spectacle

An Indian sentry on guard at a Royal Flying Corps hangar in Mesopotamia. - Otago Witness, 23.8.1916.
An Indian sentry on guard at a Royal Flying Corps hangar in Mesopotamia. - Otago Witness, 23.8.1916.
Under stress of the south-westerly gale, the surf at the Ocean Beach has afforded during the past day or two an inspiring spectacle.

Unfortunately, its sublimity has been limited to its appearance; its effects have been rather disastrous.

Within 48 hours after the rising of the gale, it became apparent to any close observer that the stability of the new sea wall supporting the Ocean drive on the eastern side of St Clair was going to be tested, for the great accumulation of sand heaped up at its base during long spells of prevailing easterly and northerly weather was being swept away at an amazing rate.

At high water on Wednesday morning the base of the new sea wall was laid bare for its greater length, and rocks were being dislocated and carried seaward.

The signs boded ill for the effects of succeeding tides, and apprehensions were fully justified. Yesterday it was high water about noon, and the sea was making upon the wall the grand assault for which its previous work had been a preparation.

Before its onslaught, for three parts of its length, the wall, which is - or was - of loose rock, visibly crumbled away beneath the eye of the spectator.

The stones now lie heaped or scattered on the sand - though much material had been carried bodily away, - and the sand and clay bank of which they constituted the face lies exposed to the wash of the breakers, which it is, of course, quite unable to resist.

•Mrs F. E. Baume, who has been elected to the Auckland Board of Education, moved at a meeting that the board urge the Education Department to appoint a woman to the inspectorial staff in the Auckland district.

As it was suggested that two additional inspectors were required, she urged that the board should ask that one of these should be a woman, who was needed particularly for work in the infant department of the schools.

She said there was ample scope for the work of a woman in the inspectorate, especially in the country districts, and splendid women for the position were available amongst the Auckland teachers.

The senior inspector (Mr E. K. Mulgan) agreed that certain parts of school work could, with advantage, be inspected by women rather than by men, but he did not think that women would be able to undergo the fatigue that was unavoidable in getting from school to school in bad weather and over bad roads. The motion was carried by six votes to four.

•Femininity has many traits, and one of them, fortunately rare, is vindictiveness. This was exemplified in a peculiar manner at the parade of the Sixteenths in Wellington on Saturday.

To prevent the crowd pushing in upon the bandsmen heading the procession and jostling them, so as to cause injury to their mouths when playing, some 40 members of the 6th Manawatu Mounted Rifles rode at the side and pressed the throng back.

The girls who had come to see their soldier friends on the march did not take at all kindly to the idea, with the result that they got ``one of their own back'' by the very simple and effective method of jabbing with their hatpins the calves of the passing mounted men!

•A Stewart Island correspondent of the Southland Times writes: ``The weather over here is very boisterous. So far this month there have been only two days when the boats could fish out of the bay.

Some of the coast boats came up this week with good hauls of cod. Captain Bob Bragg was 11 hours coming up to the bay as he had about 1800lb of cod aboard, and Hansen's boat had 500lb.

The fish seem more plentiful this year, if the weather would only keep fine.''

- ODT, 25.8.1916.

COPIES OF PICTURE AVAILABLE FROM ODT FRONT OFFICE, LOWER STUART ST, OR WWW.OTAGOIMAGES.CO.NZ

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